Dry shaver



Jan. 6, 1942. a. R. ERICSON EIAL 2,269,359

- 1m SHAVER Y 7 Filed Jan. 27, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 George EEn'c5om 1 0/7105 .Tfissati.

' 919,5, Snow-vio a v Patented Jan. 6, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRY snavrm George R. Ericson, Kirkwood, Mo.,' and Ralph. T.

. Bassett, Washington, D.O.

Application January 27, 1938 Serial No. 187,292

10 Claims. a (Cl. 30-43) This invention contemplates an improvement in a shaving v structure capable of manual or power actuation, the. manualactuation being by virtue of a removable cutting blade conventionally utilized in connection with wetting or soften- "ing agents such as creams, lathers and the like,

andthe power actuation being of these-called dry shaver type "and embodying the use of a shearing element cooperating with the cutting blade.

One of'the objects of this invention is-to provide in conjunction with the conventional razor cutting blade, a cooperating movable shearing face, the later embodying a multiplicity of minute cutting aces.

A further object is to provide the movable shearing element with small pockets, .9. portion of the wall of each pocket defining the shearing face.

More specifically this invention embodies the use of a shearing element in which there is provided a number of small shearing faces each of which is formed by a portion of a wall of a pocket which is of such diameter that it will not,

vision of travelling means for the shearing ele- I ment and/or the cutting blade-whereby the re- 4 quired speed and movement between the cooperating parts is provided, the movement being rotary, oscillatory or otherwise as may be desired or found practical in an assembly of this character.

A further object is the provision and arrangement of the parts whereby relative adjustment between the shearing. faces may be provided to obtain maximum emciency under working conditlons. v

Further objects will more clearly hereinafter ,2. The upper end .of the casing is formed with a socket 8 in which the upper extremity of the appear by reference to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which Fig. Us a fragmentary side elevation partly in I Fig. 4 is a longitudinalsection throu h the structure of Fig. 3,.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the shearing block used in the modification of Figs.'1 to 4,

Fig. 5' shows a modified form of two-way shearing mechanism,

Fig. 6 is a side elevation partly in section of a modified form utilizing a fiat laminated shearing face,

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of Fig. 6,

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of another modified form,

Fig. 9 is a side elevation partly in section of the disclosure of Fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is a detail of the shearing block utilized in Figs. 6 and '7,

Fig. 11 is a side elevation partly in section of another modification utilizing an oscillating type of shear block,

Fig. 12 is a front view partly in section of-the structure of Fig. 11,

Fig. 13 is an enlarged view of the oscillatory shear block of Figs. 11 and 12, j Fig. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of a portion of Fig. 13 showing the shearing blades and separator blades dissembled, and

Fig. 15 is a vertical sectional'view of the modification of Fig. 11 and with a different drive mechanism.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a motor casing is indicated at l and may be'of any size or shape to accommodate a suitable motor or power element of proper design. This motor casing is shown,

partly in section to'expose a drive shaft extension 2 actuated from the motor 3, the latter be- .-ing illustrated in dotted lines.

ingl and this shoulder also supports the lower 7 end of thetubular casing l which encloses the bearing and also the upper end of the drive shaft shaft 2 is mounted. Between the upper'end wall of the casing I and the bearing 6, a cam 9 is positioned, the cam being mounted as .by splining on the shaft and driven thereby. The casing 1 isformed with a tubular horizontally arranged extension. formed of upper and lower curved,

The cam face mounted in the present instance for oscillatory movement on the shaft l8 the ends of which are seated in bearings in the end walls. The cylindrical shearing element I1 is provided for a portion of its surface with a multiplicity of minute pockets l9 a portion of the wall of each of which provide shearing faces for cooperation with cutting blades 20, 20. Each of these blades 20 and 28' are removably clamped to the inclined outer faces 2! of the wall extremities l and II, these inclined faces being designed at such an angle as to bring about a proper relationship between the blades 28-28 and the shearing faces formed in the shearing cylinder l'l whereby the desired cutting action will be provided between these parts. Hinged spring plates 22-22. hold the blades 20-40 under proper tension and against the shearing cylinder and these hinged spring plates 22-22 are secured by any suit-- able means such as the pivoted spring plates 23 in clamping position. Y

It will be noted from this structure that the bearing 6, casing I and related parts may be removed from the motor casing 4 by release of the thumb-screw 24 which is provided on the threaded stud 24'. The stud 24' extends through the casing l and into the bearing 6 and retains these parts against relative movement. The stud is likewise shown as removable. The removal of this upper assembly permits access to the cam and bearing by removal of a section of the cas ing as is obvious. The specific form of casing is capable of numerous changes in structure to facilitate substitution of parts andtypes of mechanisms and reduce the cost of manufacture.

In-Figs. 3 and 4 a modified form of drive is shown. The casingstructure is similar to Figs. 1 and 2 except that a horizontal wall 25 is provided with a. socket 25"to position and support the bearing 26 upon which is mounted the gear 21 which meshes with the gear 28 on the horizontal shaft 29 supported by the vertical walls 30, 30'. The wall 30 is formed with a horizontal opening which extends entirely through the same and the wall 30' is formed with an opening merely for the end of the horizontal shaft 29. By this means the shaft may be inserted through the wall 30 into the wall 30'. On the shaft 28, which is driven by the gears 21 and 28 is the gear 3| which meshes with the gear 32 supported in journals 33, 33'. The gear 32 meshes with an intermediate row of teeth 34 formed in the shear. cylinder 35. These teeth may have the shearing faces as the balance of the teeth formed by the pockets as in Figs. 1 and 2. In Figure the structure of the shear drum is illustrated and it formed of a single structure or as a laminated structure, with each lamination the width of th kerf or notch and the laminations staggered so that the pockets are defined and spaced. This pocket arrangement is shown more clearly in Fig. 7. In this form of the invention the removable cutting blades 43 and 44 are held by hinged clamps 45 and 46, these latter being held in clamped position by the clips 41. If desired only one cutting blade. may be utilized and in this case the shear block will be of reduced width, determined by the cam movement and the size of the minute shear faces.

In Figs. 8 and 9 a structure is provided in which the shell portion connecting the shear cylinder with the casing is of angular form. In this type power is transmitted through the shaft 2 from the motor through beveled gear 5| to beveled gear 52, the latter being mounted on the shaft 53 fixed in bearing block 54. The upper end of the shaft 53 is provided with the disk 55' upon which is formed the eccentric pin 56 which engages in a pocket 51 in the cylindrical shear member 58. In this form of the invention the blades 58 and 58' are clamped in position by the hinged clamps 59 and 50 secured to the cross bars BI and 62."These cross bars GI and 82 are fixed at th ends of the hinged arms 63 and 84 pivoted on the shaft 55. The shaft 55 also mounts the shear roller 'or cylinder 58. A spring 68 is positioned between the arms 63 and 84 to secure the,necessary tension between these arms for the'proper engagement of the blades 58 and 58' with the shear cylinder 58. Cams 81 and, are mounted for rotation on the projections 10 and 1| and the rotation of these cams 81 and 88 for engagement against the cams 61 and 68.

In Fig. 11 a two part casing 80 is provided and in this casing the vibrating motor 8| actuates the control arm 82 to rock the shear cylinder 83 on its pivots 84. The shear cylinder 83 is formed as best shown in Figs. 13 and 14, of a multiplicity will. be noted that the shear faces 36 of the.

pockets are arranged at a slight angle with respectto the axis of the shear cylinder to facilioverlap at their extremities. The forward edge' H" of each hook constitutes the shearing face and each shearing face is spaced by the blade supporting intermediate surfaces.

In Figs. 6 and '7 the same casing is provided with the drive shaft 2 formed with an eccentric pin 40. This pin seats in a socket. formed in a of disks 83, each alternate disk 83 embodying a shear face and being spaced by a thinner disk structure 83'. The spacer disk may be of minimum thickness, 1. e., ten thousandths of an inch and just sufficient to properly space and define the pockets forming the shear faces. A removable blade holder is fixed to the cap 9! closing the casing 80 by means of bolt 92 and a hinged plate 93 clamps the blade 94 in position on the beveled face 95 and in working contact with the minute shear faces formed in the cylinder. The blade holder may be shifted by releasing the bolt 82 and in this manner the position of the blade with reference to the shear face can be quickly and easily adjusted. This adjustment iscontemplated inasmuchas it may be found desirable to utilize thin cutting blades of different width. The blade utilized is preferably of the type conventionally used on safety razors and'may have either one or two cutting edges as desired. I In the illustrations only one cutting edge is shown, however, adouble edged blade may be readily substituted and utilized. The present modification is particularly adaptable for use either as a dry I or wet shaver and when used in either manner flat shear block 4|, The shear block 4| may be 75 the desirable adjustmentsvif necessary, may. be

assembly.

made by the movement of the blade holder by means of the bolt 92.

Where the shear block, in any of the forms shown and described, includes a multiplicity of laminations, they will be assembled in proper relationship and retained by such means as the longitudinally extending pin 96. This means of retaining the laminations in their proper association can be varied as necessity may require. It will be further noted that in the various assemblies guards may be provided at the ends of the shear block. Also a guard bar I00, illustrated in the modification of Fig. 11, may be adapted to facilitate the proper positioning of a cutting element with relation to the surface being shaved.

As heretofore stated Fig. 15 is a vertical sectional view of the modification. of Fig. 11 with a different drive mechanism. In this figure the shearing mechanism has been identified, where possible, by reference characters corresponding to those in Figure 11 primed. Thus, in Fig. 15 there r is illustrated the blade holder 90 fixed to the 'cap 9| closing the casing. 80 by means of the bolt 92'. A hinged plate 93 clamps the blade 94' in position on the beveled faceof the blade holder and in working contact with the minute shear faces formed in the cylinder 83'. The formation of the shear member is preferably as in--;

dicated in Figs. 13 and 14. To facilitate shaving a guard bar I is illustrated. The shear; head 83' is oscillated with respect to the blade '94 by means of eccentric pin IN on the rotary shaft 2, the eccentric pin l0l engages in a recess I03 formed in'the bottom portion ofthe shear block In each of the modifications there is provided a thin cutting blade which'may be of the standard rubber and suitably bonded to the frame. A reinforced opening is formed at a proper point in the gasket to accommodate the drive arm from the motor. This gasket may be essential in some instances and in other instancesth'e motor casing itself can be so constructed and arranged with respect to the head that leakage between these parts is .not present.

We claim:

1. A dry shaver comprising a quickly detachable, flexibleblade and a shearingmember cooperating therewith, said shearing member having a series of whisker receiving recesses, shearing edges, and bladesupporting members extending along the edge of the blade, said blade having an edge in substantially line contact with said supporting members, and means for holding the blade in resilient sliding contact with said members. j

2. A motor driven razor comprising a. blade, a shearing member having a multiplicity of supports longitudinally spaced along the edge of said blade and making a substantially rectilinear series of contacts therewith, shearing edges formed between said supports and forming a continuation of a straight line of contact between saidblade and said supports. said shearing memblade except for the edge thereof, and means for maintaining a resilient contact between said.

. edge of said blade and said supports.

safety razor type, with single or double cutting edge and capable in itself of a shaving operation. In addition to thisthin cutting blade there is a shearing member which cooperates with this cutting blade and which embodies a multiplicity of blunt durable shearing edges. This shearing member is adapted for cooperation with the cutting blade and in the various modificationsis applied with power whereby the relative movement between the blade and the shearing member is obtained. The multiplicity of blunt and.

durable shearing edges are formed in the shearing member, by providing in same a multiplicity of pockets. a portion of the wall of each pocket defining .the shearing edge. Further, the shearing edges are spaced as shown in the different .modifications and this spacing may be obtained bly. Relative adjustment between the cutting blade and the shearing member can be made by any suitable means as by bolt 92 in the last modification described and this adjustment may be utilized to facilitate the conventional shaving operation where power is not present.

When essential a rubber gasket I05 can be placed between the head structure and the drive mechanism, this gasket'being preferably of light 3. A motor driven razor comprising a frame having a blade supporting portion, a blade supported -by said portion, a spring device for detachably holding saidblade in position, a shear member having a multiplicity of supports in resilient contact with the edge of said blade and substantially free of contact from any other portion thereof, shearing edges mounted in a line of contact between said blade and said supports, and means for rapidly oscillating said shearing member.

4. In a razor structure, a blade carrier, a blade relation to the blade and said'shear member including a multiplicity vof longitudinally arranged relatively small pockets each formed to include a shear face defined by spaced walls, said walls forming blade supporting members, and the shear face of each pocket coacting with said blade, and said blade carrier being adjustable to 'shift said blade relative to and in contact with blade, said shear member including a multiplicity of relatively small longitudinally arranged spaced pockets, each pocket having a shear face coacting with said blade, said shear member being provided with blade supporting walls, means for maintaining resilient sliding contact between said blade and said walls, and means for adjusting said blade carrier to vary the position of said blade on said shear member.

6. In a razor structure, a housing, a quickly detachable relatively thin resilient sheet metal blade having a continuous cutting edge, a rapidly shiftableshear member movable with relation to said blade. .said shear member being formed with amultiplicity of relatively small spaced'pock'ets, one wall of each of which in-,

cludes a shearing edgegsaid shearing edges having intermittent resilient line contact with the wail portions further defining said pockets and normally engaging and supporting said resilient blade during movement of said shear member to and from engagement with said cutting edges,-

with a relatively small recess whereby injuryto,

the body being shaved is avoided, said shearing element having a multiplicity of blade supporting portions adjacent said shearing faces, and said blade being held in resilient sliding contact with said supporting surfaces by its own flexibility.

8. In a dry shaver comprising a blade having a thin flexible straight razor edge, a shear member having a series of supporting portions spaced along said razor edge at intervals, shear edges between the blade edge and shear face during between said portion adapted to make line con- .tact withsaid blade edge, said supporting portions contacting substantially only with the edge of said blade, and means'for resiliently maintaining said contact,

9. In a dry shaver, a thin flexible blade having a straight cutting edge, a shearing block adapted to cooperate with said blade and including a multiplicity of shearing edges arranged 'for simultaneous line contact with said blade edge, each shearing edge being provided with hair receiving pockets the side walls of which are relatively thin and form blade supporting elements as said shearing edges approach said blade cutting edge, and portions extending from said shear faces and forming blade supporting elements af-- ter said shearing edges pass over said blade cutting edge.

10. The substance of claim 9 characterized in that means are provided to regulate the travel shearing operation.

' GEORGE R. ERICSON.

RALPH T. BASSETT. 

